SAN PABLO, Calif., March 26, 2015—Doctors Medical Center, a
60-year-old community-owned safety-net hospital, will stop
providing clinical care and close on April 21, the West Contra
Costa Healthcare District Board of Directors voted on Thursday.

The decision—made reluctantly—follows a financial briefing
indicating the hospital is on the verge of running out of money
and has exhausted its ability to borrow more funds.

“This is a very sad day and a huge loss for our community and for
all of us who have worked so hard to keep our community hospital
open for all our residents in time of need,” said Eric Zell,
chairman of the District’s elected board of directors. “We have
exhaustively pursued every alternative over the past weeks,
months and years. Unfortunately, we have completely run out of
viable and responsible options.”

SAN PABLO — The West Contra Costa Healthcare District board
voted Thursday to close Doctors Medical Center in less than four
weeks, after years of financial losses and unsuccessful attempts
to find a sustainable way to keep it open.

The closure is slated to begin April 21, to give officials time
to vet a late-inning proposal by a self-described hospital
turnaround specialist with a mixed track record.

Doctors Medical Center, the cash-strapped public hospital in San
Pablo that has been on the brink of closure so many times, is
slated to start closing April 21 after its governing board voted
to begin the process of shutting it down unless a last-minute
proposal can save it.

The West Contra Costa Healthcare District board, which
oversees the hospital, made the decision at a special hearing
Thursday evening that was packed with employees, patients,
residents and others who lauded the hospital’s history of caring
for the community, but questioned who would care for patients in
the west part of the county in the future.

With cash fast running out and hospital staff morale sinking to
new lows, county health experts told the West Contra Costa
Healthcare District Board on Tuesday that they had two last-ditch
plans to save some level of services at Doctors Medical Center
San Pablo.

“We have to look at scenarios other than a full service
hospital,” said Dr. William Walker, the director of Contra Costa
Health Services. “We don’t have firm plans, we have
options.” (Contra Costa Times)

Contra Costa County will direct $6 million to keep cash-strapped
Doctors Medical Center afloat for the next few months and give
officials time to ponder what to do next.

The $6 million property tax transfer approved by the Board of
Supervisors on Tuesday represents a third of the San Pablo-based
hospital’s annual $18 million deficit. The money will allow it to
continue to operate while officials scramble to come up with a
permanent rescue formula for a downsized, financially sustainable
facility. (Contra Costa Times)

Hoping to open new possibilities for saving at least a portion of
Doctors Medical Center San Pablo, health care board officials
announced Monday they would rescind their notice of closure to
county health officials and instead pursue a plan to at least
sustain the hospital’s 25-bed emergency department, the largest
in West Contra Costa County.

“This buys us some time,” said county Supervisor John Gioia. “We
are pursuing multiple tracks to find the best solution.” (Contra
Costa Times)

One day after a parcel tax proposal to save Doctors Medical
Center was rejected by voters, Contra Costa public health leaders
and politicians started the grim process of planning for the
hospital’s likely closure this summer and the resulting impact on
public health in West County. (Contra Costa Times)

Doctors Medical Center could be forced to close as early as July
25 if several funding streams don’t emerge in the coming months,
according to a contingency plan presented to the West Contra
Costa Healthcare District board of directors Wednesday.
(Contra Costa Times)

Fiscal matters have reached a crisis stage again for Doctors
Medical Center, and employees and union leaders implored the
hospital’s board of directors Wednesday evening to find a way to
preserve services and keep the doors open.

Unless it can partner or merge with a larger health care
organization or raise more revenue, the hospital will likely
close within a year, Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond told
meeting attendees. (Radin, Mercury News 2/28/13)

Contra Costa County officials are scheduled to consider advancing
$10 million to Doctors Medical Center to help the hospital remain
open, the Contra Costa Times reports.

Doctors Medical Center experienced significant financial losses
during the beginning of 2011 and now is more than three months
behind in paying some vendors and suppliers. The board of the
hospital is slated to consider the cash infusion proposal during
their meeting next Tuesday. County supervisors will examine the
issue during a meeting on April 5 (Kleffman, Contra Costa Times,
3/24).

On Monday, officials at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo
called a special meeting to discuss the hospital’s financial
troubles, despite the $10 million advance it received from Contra
Costa County, the Contra Costa Times reports.

A recent audit provides more details about financial strain at
Doctors Medical Center, the Contra Costa Times reports. The
audit, by public accounting firm Moss Adams, said the loss of
anticipated federal funds and an increase in uninsured patients
has contributed to the hospital’s financial problems.

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